I bought the 703 at Dayton on Friday, but waited to receive the radio via UPS four days later (saving about 40 bucks – any questions?). The unit showed up from AES in good shape. But I had one scary moment of serious doubt about that – details later. I looked at the manual (ugh!) briefly, but as I wanted to use my time to operate an amateur radio and not enroll for college credits, I decided to postpone a full reading of that ponderous volume until later. I followed the instructions for a quick set-up and got ready for some fun. The controls and buttons, especially the RIT function switch are small. You expected what? I have chubby fingers but didn’t have any problems accessing all the control functions. The radio has a nice tilt up bale and can stand vertically upright on its back legs. Unlike my IC-707, the 703 doesn’t make any fan noise – because it has no fan. This is good.

The IC-703 is billed by Icom as the “IC-706 legacy, now in a QRP version.” This makes sense to me. The 703 from any distance could easily be mistaken for the 706. The 703 is about 6.5 (W) by 2.25 (H) by 4.75 (D) and weighs in at a svelte 4.4 pounds. Like I said, it looks like a 706 clone. But the 703 has some nice features that the 706 does not. It has a built-in automatic antenna tuner, DSP, and there's a new PA circuit offering 5W output with only a 9.6v DC supply. The IC-703 can be powered using the optional BP-228 (external) battery pack. Icom claims it provides up to 7 hours of operating time. Personally, I visited E-bay and scored a couple of those 12v VW solar panels, then I dropped by my local Farm and Fleet store and picked up a 12v motorcycle battery. The small wet cell is not all that much heavier than the BP-228, and it's lots cheaper! As I am not a back packer, the whole battery issue wasn’t a huge selling point for me either way. But even on the first day at Dayton, I heard some complaints from big-time QRPers that the rig didn’t allow for internal battery operation. Clearly, some compromises were made by Icom in this regard.

Once I had the nifty little rig set up for action, I switched it into CW mode and tapped the key tentatively. The side tone sounded, but there was no RF output. Panic set in immediately! It got even worse when I found that if I keyed the mike and also pressed the key, it did produce output. My heart racing now (you 706 owners are already laughing at me aren’t you?), I called AES tech support. Had the radio been damaged in transit? Was it a lemon? Will true justice prevail and QRP triumph over all? Stay tuned! The nice fellow at AES informed me that the tech support manual wasn’t even in the dealers’ hands yet, but that as my rig’s menu was similar to the menu in the 706, he’d try using that book as a substitute. Expecting the worst at this point, I caught a break. “Do you have the CW break-in switched on?” He asked.

“Why?” I replied, “Should I have?” Back to the start up menu, and there it was – “CW Break-In.” And underneath it, the word “off.” I switched it to “on,” and squealed like a kid on Christmas morning when that sweet 5 watts of RF dynamite “slammed” my RF meter forward. I felt very happy, but more than a little dumb. How could I have failed to overlook this? So I changed my literary approach, and started reading that ghastly manual – cover to cover – to see what advisory I had overlooked. To my surprise, the matter is never specifically dealt with in the manual! All it says is that this soft switch turns on the CW break-in, and that the factory default setting is “off” (why in hell this is, I do not know). The grammar and syntax in the manual is typical Icom – error plagued. Why they don’t farm out the tech writing to native writers of English is beyond my guess. It’s not the worst manual I’ve ever seen, and it does try to be comprehensive. It is very amply illustrated. But alas, it’s organized like a Friday night brawl in a biker bar. It has no index at all, which would have made everything else about it more sufferable. This is not a new problem for Icom.

The next thing I noticed was that the DSP and IF shift work marvels for CW, but still do not give quite enough QRM rejection to suite me. The radio needed a CW filter. Rather than pay the full freight for the FL-53A filter, a 250hz narrow job, I went to the Internet and found a like-new one for $125, a $65 dollar savings. Installation of the IF filter isn’t tough, but do read and follow the instructions carefully, and be careful! Get jiggy with that screwdriver or soldering iron here, and you’ve done some serious damage. My one additional suggestion for installing a filter is that you very gently pull the two ribbon cables lose on the side of the main board. This allows easier access to the underside (which you must have) while lessening the strain on the one remaining ribbon in the front. But your mileage may vary.

The main board of the 703 doesn’t have the same look of say, a K1 board. The components in the 703 are mostly tiny, flat, and with a very low profile above the board. But it is (like the K1) quite densely populated. The FL-53A in concert with the DSP gave me a powerful system for eliminating interference and getting easier copy on marginal signals. The 703 has an auto notch filter, which tracks and attenuates some of the interference from “tuner-uppers” and other similar continual signals.

On the air, the 703 is a treat. It has 160-10m on the standard model, and also 6m on the “plus” model. Even though the bands aren’t in great shape right now, I contacted Hawaii on SSB with only 5w, which from Illinois is a pretty good haul. The SSB audio reports have been very good; the audio is easy to set up. The rig has received very good signal quality reports, and seems to be rock-stable. With a built-in ±0.5ppm TXCO, it should be. The tuner is really more of a “trimmer” than a true tuner, but I won’t haggle. It won’t tune long-wire antennas for example, and you have to be “in the ballpark” on SWR to get the most out of the tuner. Still, it does a nice job of getting my antennas down to 1.5:1 or better. This allows the 703 to deliver its full rated power with any semi-shutdown issues.

So far, with 5 watts and a Hustler 6BTV (with radials), I have worked, in less than a month, HI, SC, TN, NY, NV, MD, VA, TX, IL, AL, NM, PA, KY, CA, AZ, OH, and OK. Signal reports vary, of course, but 549 to 579 is typical, with a couple of 599's thrown in. I’m pretty pleased with all aspects of the 703's performance. The internal power metering system in the Icom is slightly at odds with my two watt meters, so in order to get 5 to 5.5 watts out on the Daiwa 802 meter, I have to set the 703 at “7.” I am not too concerned, as neither of my watt meters are calibrated to a known standard in the first place. And if Icom means seven watts “input” power, then 5 out would be about correct.

When the 703 is operated on a 9.6v source, it goes into power saving mode. This you can over-ride – though I wonder why we would ever want to. It is all controlled by the microprocessor. The 703 can put out 10 watts, but in the low current mode, it automatically goes to 5. Not to worry. The 703 will automatically scale the meter according to output power. In other words, if you set max power at one watt, full scale will indicate one watt. Very clever. I also liked the SWR analyzer graph function for checking my antenna. Still better is the spectrum graph or “scope,” as Icom calls it. This displays the signals and their strength that lie around your operating frequency. This makes it a snap to find a clear spot if you need to QSY.

The receiver is very, very good. It is noticeably better than my IC-707 and way better than my Argonaut 515. Icom specs it as 0.16ìV at 10dB S/N for 1.8 to 30MHz bands and 0.13ìV for 50MHz at 10dB S/N (in SSB and CW modes). Unlike my 707, the CW filter toggles in and out from a single front-panel function switch. You don’t have to scroll through all the modes just to go wide for CW. Bravo! Other nifty features include adjustable AGC , built-in pre-amplifier, 20dB RF attenuator, AF Speech compressor, CTCSS tone encoder/decoder, and VOX. I tried out all except the tone decoder, and found them to be highly effective. But have you ever found a noise blanker that actually made any difference in receiver performance? Neither have I. So don’t expect the Earth to move when you turn the 703's NB on or off. I found little, if any audible difference in the audio either way. Another cool feature of the radio is the band edge warning beep. You won’t offend the FCC nor your own dignity by cranking the VFO out of bounds – at least not without first getting a gentle reminder from the rig! The receiver (at 9.6v) draws a paltry 450 mA at maximum AF output and 300mA in standby. By the way, it’s amazing how many of the features of the IC-756 are also standard on the 703. This is not a cheap little radio, either in terms of actual price or overall quality. Careful shopping puts the rig in your station for ~$580, not including the filter (which you WILL want).

I played with the nifty built-in memory CW keyer, and liked it very much. But I typically (for base station use) run all my rigs from my Logikey K3. It was no hassle to turn the 703's keyer off and to use another keyer instead. The 703 keyer has three memory locations and up to 50 characters per memory location. When you use the built-in keyer, messages sent from memory scroll across the bottom of the LCD display window. The CW pitch is variable, and it can be used with a bug, iambic paddles, or a standard key. By the way, I’ve heard lots of CW ops say they love to send code with a bug. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they really like to copy the code sent by one – I certainly don’t. Oh well, I digress. Still, why would you use a bug with a rig that has a built in keyer? Each to their own way. Though I have no plans to do so, the 703 will allow me to run FSK and RTTY. The RTTY guys will want the FL-52A filter instead of the ‘53A, as it is 500 hz wide.

The computer interface (or “CI-V system capability”) is pretty much standard Icom protocol, and common to the 706, 707, 718, and etc. I have fun with the 703 by using the frequency-input touch pad I built from an article in QST (December, ‘99). It works super with the new rig. The 703 also has a 9600bps data terminal on rear panel.

The Icom IC-703 comes with a hand microphone (that plugs in at either the front or rear!), DC power cable, spare fuses, key or keyer plugs, and an accessory cable. And of course, it also comes with that splendid manual.

I really love QRP, and can’t help but think that the IC-703 is going to win a lot of ham hearts in the months ahead. It already has won mine.

73
Steve
W9HC / QRP ARCI# 7074